Gary Lineker has now been discussing the slightly incomplete performance of a Chelsea player for his country over the weekend.
Several of Mauricio Pochettino’s players have departed the squad over the break, mostly young players looking to forge their international path.
Of course, that can be said for both Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer who are relatively early in their respective England careers.
Palmer now has two England caps, whereas Gallagher has earned 12 to date.
And although Gallagher isn’t exactly new to the international scene by any means, it does feel as if he’s been given a fresh chance to prove his credentials in wake of Jordan Henderson dropping out of the XI.
That being said, Gallagher did get that opportunity alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham in the defeat against Brazil.
And whilst Gallagher wasn’t poor by any means, Gary Lineker did think he slightly put England ‘under pressure’ at times.
Speaking on ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast, Lineker said the £45m-rated Chelsea man was giving the ball away too often for his country, even if he was also pressing very well.
Gary Lineker says Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher was careless in possession for England
Lineker said that Gallagher did ‘work his socks off’ but didn’t take enough care of the ball when in possession.
He explained: “He played Gallagher in that role that Henderson has played in the past and he worked his socks off, there’s no question about that.
“He closes down well, he presses well, he chases back, but when he had the ball he gave it away a lot, so that puts you under pressure defensively.
“If you have a player in there, say, you could place Rice as the pivot and then either side you could play Foden and Bellingham or Maddison and Bellingham and you wouldn’t give the ball away.
“You might be slightly more vulnerable in the defensive aspects but I think the players can buy into that.
“You watch Maddison at Tottenham, for example, who chases and harries and wins the ball back, Phil Foden and Man City, they are all programmed to win the ball back.”
Conor Gallagher did still perform for England against Brazil
Of course, on the back of those comments from Gary Lineker, it is worth looking at how the Chelsea man statistically compared to his England teammates.
According to Sofascore, Gallagher completed 83% of his 30 passes, losing possession on 11 occasions.
Whereas Declan Rice, who was playing in the pivot behind him, completed 91% of his 80 passes, even if he did also lose the ball 11 times.
And whilst a positional difference will contribute to those stats, perhaps there is a story there.
Of course, Kobbie Mainoo was the player to replace Gallagher in the last 15 minutes, and he didn’t lose possession once, completing 100% of his 20 passes.
Admittedly that was at a much later stage of the game, but perhaps those numbers do highlight an area for improvement, even if Gallagher deserves credit for perhaps trying to progress the play more.
All that being said, there have now been fresh reports regarding Gallagher’s potential departure this summer.
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